THE Department of Agriculture (DA) is now preparing for the emergency procurement of African swine fever (ASF) vaccines in a bid to contain a reported outbreak of the disease in certain areas in Batangas.
“The local government units (LGU) may need to declare a state of emergency in these Batangas municipalities to enable the DA to respond swiftly to the situation and release funds for the urgent purchase of vaccines,” Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said in a statement on Wednesday.
However, the DA has yet to provide the number of affected areas and hogs in Batangas.
Tiu Laurel said aside from vaccines, the DA will also provide hog producers in Batangas with industrial lime to treat areas where condemned swines are buried.
The DA is also coordinating with the police and military to enforce checkpoints to prevent the spread of ASF-infected animals.
DA Assistant Secretary Dante Palabrica, a doctor of veterinary medicine and in charge of swine and poultry, said the agency may need to purchase at least 10,000 doses of ASF vaccines for the emergency response.
Emergency procurement could shorten the purchase period by about two weeks.
The DA said LGUs also have the authority to declare a state of emergency but such would only be confined to affected areas to control the outbreak.
Palabrica has been tasked to engage LGU officials to discuss the declaration of the state of emergency and coordinate the response.
Meanwhile, the DA’s Bids and Awards Committee and the Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) are drafting a resolution to formalize the emergency procurement process.
Based on latest data from BAI, active cases of ASF in the country as of July 26 are contained in 11 regions, 18 provinces, 45 municipalities and 150 barangays.
